1744 - 1783 H. H. Sayyid Ahmad bin Sa’id bin Muhammad bin Khalaf bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi Al-Azdi Al-Ammani Al-Ibadhi (so styled on his grave), Imam of Oman. b. at Adam, 1710, son of Sayyid Sa’id bin Muhammad Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. Appointed as Governor of Sohar under the Ya’rubi Imams in 1737. He repulsed the Persian attack upon Sohar, later defeated and expelled them from Muskat and assumed control over Oman, in late 1744. Elected as Imam, at Rustaq, 9th June 1749. Relinquished his personal control over day-to-day administrative affairs to his son, retaining his position as Imam, 1st February 1775. m. (first) an Indian lady. m. (second) before 1741, Sayyida Ghani bint Khalfan Al-Busaidiyah, daughter of H.E. Sayyid Khalfan bin Muhammad Al-Busaidi, sometime Governor of Muscat. m. (third) ca 1749, Sayyida Ya’arubin bint Saif, daughter of Imam Saif II bin Sultan, of the former Yarubid Dynasty. m. (fourth) a sister of Shaikh Muhammad bin Nasir al-Jabry al-Ghafiry, of Zhahirah, a prominent leader of the Nizariyah faction and sometime Governor of Bahrain under the Yarubi. He d. at Al-Batinah Fort, Rustaq, 15th December 1783 (bur. there at the Western Fort, near the Great Mosque), having had issue, seven sons and three daughters:

1) Sayyid Hilal bin Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi (s/o an Indian lady). Disqualified from the succession due to his blindness. He d.v.p. at Diu, Portuguese India, having had issue, an only son:

3) H.E. Sayyid Qais bin Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi (s/o the Ya’arubin), educ. privately. Governor of Sohar 1783-1808. Made himself independent of Imam Sa’id and was elected as Imam at Mesna’a, on the Batineh coast, early 1785, by a small number of dissident kazis and mullahs. Subsequently reconciled and confirmed as Governor of Sohar. He was k. in battle with Shaikh Sultan Al-Qasimi of Sharjah, at Khor Fakkan, May 1808, having had issue, a son and a daughter:

a) H.E. Sayyid ‘Azzan bin Qais bin Imam Ahmad Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. Governor of Sohar 1808-1814. He d. while returning from the Haj, at Mokha, Yemen, before 22nd February 1814 , having had issue, three sons:

i) H.E. Sayyid Hamud bin ‘Azzan Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. Governor of Sohar 1829-1833. Rebelled against Sayyid Sa’id bin Sultan in 1830 and again in 1832, took control of Rustaq, and eventually recognised as autonomous ruler by him in 1839. Elected Imam but declined the throne, 1846. Captured and imprisoned by Thuwaini bin Sa’id. He d. in prison at Fort Jelali, Muscat, 23rd April 1850, having had issue, four sons:

(1) H.E. Sayyid Saif bin Hamud Al-Busaidi. b. ca.1827, educ. privately. Deputy Governor of Sohar 1836-1849. Captured the Buraimi oasis 1848. He was k. by his father at Sohar, 1849, having had issue, a son:

(a) Sayyid Muhammad bin Faisal Al-Busaidi. He was k. with his brother at Rustaq for the murder of the Governor there, March 1911 (but. there at the Western Fort, near the Great Mosque).

(b) Sayyid Ibrahim bin Faisal Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. He was k. with his brother at Rustaq for the murder of the Governor there, March 1911 (but. there at the Western Fort, near the Great Mosque).

ii) H.E. Sayyid Qais bin ‘Azzan Al-Busaidi. b. 1813, educ. privately. Governor of Sohar 1850-1851, and Rustaq 1850-1861. He was k. in battle by Hilal bin Muhammad at Suwaiq, 1864, having had issue, three sons and two (or three?) daughters:

(a) Sayyid Sa’id bin Ibrahim Al-Sa’id (brother-in-law of the Sultan). b. 1877, educ. privately. Expelled from Rustaq to Hazam on the death of his father in 1898. Lost ‘Awabi to the Sultan in 1900, but recovered possession of Rustaq in 1903. He was k. at Rustaq by his cousins, March 1911, having had issue, two sons:

(a) Sayyida Zayariah bint Ibrahim Al-Busaidiyah. m. at Muscat, 1898, as his third wife, H.H Sayyid Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Muscat and Oman and dependencies, GCIE (b. at Bombay, 1864; d. at Muscat, 15th October 1913), second son of H.H. Sayyid Turki bin Sa’id, Sultan of Muscat and Oman and dependencies, GCSI. She d. at Muscat, 4th December 1941, having had issue – see below.

4) Sayyid Saif bin Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi. b. at Adam, 17xx (s/o the al-Jabry lady), educ. privately. He left for East Africa immediately after the death of his father, where he sought to seize his territories for himself. He succeeded in taking Fort Jesus, in Mombasa, but was forced to retire to Lamu when Ahmad bin Sa’id the younger marched in and seized the fort 23rd January 1785. m. Sayyida Muza bint Ahmad Al-Busaidiyah, daughter of H.E. Sayyid Ahmad bin Imam Sa’id Al-Busaidi, sometime Governor of Muscat and Rustaq, by his wife, a daughter of H.E. Sayyid Qais bin Imam Ahmad Al-Busaidi, sometime Governor of Sohar. He d. at Lamu, in East Africa, early 1785, having had issue, two sons and one daughter:

a) H.E. Sayyid Badr bin Saif Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. Proclaimed as Regent for the young brothers Sayyids Salim and Saif, 20th November 1804. Deposed for attempting to seize supreme power, 31st July 1806. He was k. by adherents of Sayyid Sa’id, at Na’aman, near Birka, 31st July 1806, having had issue, two sons:

7) H.E. Sayyid Muhammad bin Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi (s/o Sayyida Ya’aruli). Governor of Suwaiq during his father’s lifetime. Governor-General of Mombasa and the East African territories 1784. He d. at Lamu, having had issue, one son and one daughter:

a) Sayyida Jokha bint Muhammad Al-Busaidiyah. She seized Suwaiq in 1828 but was defeated by her aunt, Sayyida Moza.

1) Sayyida Moza bint Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidiyah. She played a very prominent part in the affairs of Oman, in particular as guardian and support of her nephews Salim and Sa’id, after the death of their father.

1783 – 1811 Al-Wasiq Billah al-Samad Imam al-Musliman Sayyid Sa’id bin Al-Imam Ahmad bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi, Imam of Oman. b. 1741, second son of Sayyid Ahmad bin Sa’id bin Muhammad bin Khalaf bin Sa’id Al-Busaidi Al-Azdi Al-Ammani Al-Ibadhi, by his wife, Sayyida Ghani bint Khalfan Al-Busaidiyah, daughter of H.E. Sayyid Khalfan bin Muhammad Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. Assumed control over administrative affairs from his father January 1775. Proclaimed as Imam, after the death of his father, at Rustaq 15th December 1783. He relinquished his personal control over day-to-day administrative affairs to his third son, Hamad, the Governor of Muscat, who assumed the regency by 1789. At Hamad’s death in 1792, he resumed direct control oncemore, but retreated to a life of indolence and allowed his surviving sons and other relations almost total freedom to govern as they saw fit. He remained the traditional capital in Rustaq and continued to hold the title of Imam until his death, the last of the Busaidi family to enjoy that position and rank. He d. at Al-Batinah Fort, Rustaq, 1811 (bur. there), having had issue, four sons:

1) H.E. Sayyid Ahmad bin Imam Sa’id Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. He took possession of Zanzibar in 1784 and Fort Jesus, Mombasa, on behalf of his father, 23rd January 1785. Governor of Muscat 1792-1811, and of Rustaq 1811-1812. m. a daughter of H.E. Sayyid Qais bin Imam Ahmad Al-Busaidi, sometime Governor of Sohar. He d. at Muscat, 1819, having had issue, five sons and a daughter:

a) General (Amir) H.E. Sayyid Hamad bin Ahmad al-Busaidy ‘Wad Sammar’. Governor of Bandar Abbas, Generalissimo of the Zanzibar Army, who subdued Barawa, Patta, Siwi and Marika on the Somali Coast in 1822, and Mombasa, Pate and Pemba from the Mazrui in 1824, and sacked Mogadishu in 1828, Governor of Nakhl 1832-1843. He was k. in a hail of arrows after the unsuccessful assault on Siyu, at Faza, Pate, 6th January 1844 (bur. Rasini), having had issue:

2) H.E. Sayyid Hamad bin Imam Sa’id Al-Busaidi, educ. privately. He took control of Muscat in 1786, gradually extended his control of the other forts and towns until he had assumed complete temporal power from his father, and becoming Regent and C-in-C in 1789. His father remained as spiritual and supreme leader with the title of Imam at the traditional capital in Rustaq, leaving the cares of administration and foreign trade to his able son. He d.v.p. from small-pox, at Muscat, 13th March 1792 (bur. there on the slope of the central Wadi), having had issue, two sons:

a) Sayyid Hilal bin Hamad bin Imam Sa’id Al-Busaidi.

b) Sayyid Hamid bin Hamad Al-Busaidi. He had issue:

i) Sayyid Hilal bin Hamid Al-Busaidi. b. 1809. Counsellor of State to Sultan Sayyid Thuwaini in 1854. He d. 1868, having had issue, a son:

(c) ? Sayyid Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Ghasham Albu Sa’id. Governor of Sohar and Sur under Sultan Faisal, subsequently he accompanied young Taimur to India in 1903, and served as Governor of Matrah, Financial Minister and as President of the Council of Ministers under Taimur.

1. H.E. Sayyida Dr Rawya bint Saud Al-Busaidiyah. b. in Kenya, educ. Oxford Univ (PhD). Minister for Higher Education in Oman since 2004, when she became the first woman in Arabia to head a government ministry. Chair Sultan Qaboos Univ Governing Council, and the Coll of Law Governing Brd. Deputy Chair Council for Higher Education, Science Research Council, etc.